


Painting a Double Decker Bus

by Tabbyluna



Category: Skylanders (Video Games)
Genre: Art Projects, Female Friendship, Gen, Implied Neurodivergence, discussions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26419789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbyluna/pseuds/Tabbyluna
Summary: One day, the superchargers were gifted a double-decker bus. And Splat decided to use it to create art.
Relationships: Nightfall & Splat, Nightfall & Stormblade, Nightfall & Stormblade & Splat
Kudos: 1





	Painting a Double Decker Bus

**Author's Note:**

> I realise I'd been writing a lot about Nightfall lately. Or at least publishing stories about her, considering all of this is pre-written.
> 
> I should also write more yuri, but inspiration for that has been hard to find lately.

Somewhere along the way, the Superchargers ended up with a double decker bus in their possession. No one knew why. They just came back from a mission one day, and the next day Hugo found a double decker parked outside the garage they use to store their vehicles. “All I found was this note,” said Hugo, “it says to use this gift wisely.”

There was a bit of debate as to how it should be used, but even after they decided that the motor and all the other parts could be donated to the Tech department (they gratefully accepted them), they still were not sure what they should use the remaining outer parts for.

And that was when Splat came into the picture. “Can I have this?” She asked, pointing to the bus, which had just gotten all its working parts removed. “I think I can use it for an art project.”

“Yeah sure, go ahead,” said Spitfire, grateful that somebody was willing to find a use for it. “Just make sure you don’t make too much of a mess, and we’re cool.”

And so the next day, she brought out the largest collection of spray paints that Nightfall had ever seen. “How many of these  _ do _ you have stored away?” She asked, a brow raised and arms folded across her chest.

“Enough to finish this project,” said Splat. She licked her lips and rubbed her hands, getting herself in the zone. “I’d been meaning to use them for a while now.”

Stormblade looked over the spray paints, at the sheer variety of colours and brands she had on her. Then she turned to look up, at her canvas, the bus. “Looks like it’ll be quite an ambitious project.” How exciting.

“Just don’t tire yourself out, alright?” Nightfall walked over to Stormblade, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Relax,” said Splat, and she positioned a face mask over her nose and mouth. Once she adjusted it to be the right size for her, she slid it down and allowed it to hang around her neck. “I’d done this before on a small scale, so I think I know what I’m doing.”

“As long as we don’t have you dehydrated and exhausted after this, we’ll be cool.” Stormblade poked her lightly in the ribs with her elbow for that comment. “What? Too much?” She asked once she felt that.

Stormblade nodded. She’d been trying to work on tact, but old habits die hard.

“Like I said, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson on big projects, and I promise I’ll take care of myself.” Splat flashed the two other girls a smile, crossed her heart, and then gave them a thumbs up. And after she did, she turned her attention back to the bus. Ready to start planning out this project.

*****

Nightfall and Stormblade left after some time, because they both got bored and Splat had not moved past the planning stage after an hour. But after she spent the day training, helping civilians out with minor problems (like saving cats from trees), and working on a few minor repairs on the Sea Shadow, Nightfall went back to check on Splat. When she found her again, she had somehow climbed to the top of the bus, a pencil in hand.

She had to wonder how a pencil could possibly make any markings on a bus, but she supposed when her friend frequently worked with magic paints, anything was possible.

“How’s it going?” She asked, hands on her hips. 

“Almost done with planning,” Splat said, somewhat absentmindedly. It was clear that she was, at the moment, completely engrossed in her work. She wiped some sweat from her brow, and licked her lips.

“You drunk anything since we left?” Asked Nightfall. 

“Yup,” she said, without even looking up. “I got a bottle of water. By the way, could you toss it up? It’s somewhere over there.” She pointed to the right, and Nightfall’s eyes followed.

She scanned the grassy ground, looking around for a plastic bottle. After a quick scout through the sea of spray cans, she saw it. It had toppled to the ground, and was hidden away in a section of long, uncut grass. But she fished it out, and dusted off some dirt which stuck onto it.

“Catch,” she called out. And she tossed the bottle up towards her. It went up straight, until gravity kicked in. Then it arched down, right into Splat’s open palm.

“Thanks,” and Splat took a tiny sip of water. Before she once again placed the bottle down, and continued working on the bus.

Nightfall left afterwards. It was already the late afternoon, and she felt like she had better things to do than to watch her friend sketch a bus. She had to admit, it was an odd sight. And a part of her wondered why Splat even felt the need to do such a thing like that.

*****

Stormblade started hanging out with Nightfall in her room after their first mission together. At first, because she felt a strong need to spend time together, to hopefully get to know each other better. But somewhere along the way, it became a habit. Formed because they started to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. They still fought from time to time, mostly silly arguments over minor things. But by and large, over time they had changed and adjusted themselves until they found themselves on a similar enough wavelength.

It was, Stormblade had to admit, an interesting wavelength. They both had to learn to meet the other in the middle, but it worked. Sort of.

Because of this relationship they had, whenever Nightfall took note of something she found odd about the rest of Skylands, Stormblade felt the need to try to explain it to her. At first, it was assumed that it was due to Nightfall’s upbringing in isolation. But after talking to her, explaining to her things which sounded so obvious, she was wondering if Nightfall mind was simply wired differently.

Not that it was a bad thing. It really was not. But it would explain why some aspects about interaction with others, which seemed so simple and obvious to her, simply flew over Nightfall’s head.

Today, she talked about Splat. “I really don’t know why she’s so focused on painting the bus. It’s just a bus.”

Stormblade shrugged. “It’s her hobby. You know her, she likes to do new things to challenge herself. Just like you and I do.”

“Yeah but,” Nightfall drummed her fingers on her desk, thinking about how to phrase something. It was something Stormblade noticed she did more of nowadays. Mulling over her words, considering them carefully. “When you and I try new things, it’s usually related to our duties as Skylanders. We stalk out new terrains and train using new techniques to improve our skills. Or we read up and study other vehicles to see what we can add to ours. What we do has a purpose. What purpose does a spray-painted bus have?”

“Well, to burn energy, for one.” Stormblade stuck her thumb out. “It helps to improve her art skills when she takes on new projects.” Another finger stuck out.

“Yes but. What purpose does art even serve anyways?” Said Nightfall, standing up. She walked over to the bed, where Stormblade was perched on the headrest. “I mean, I get wanting to do things like taking pictures of beautiful things. That’s so that you can show it to other people and document things. But… Why spray paint a bus?”

Stormblade hummed to herself, considering her answer carefully. “Well, it’s a good way to pass the time, for one.” Evil activity has been pretty slow lately. “But in the case for Splat and all her weird projects, I think it’s a form of self-expression for her.”

Nightfall still looked at her with brows furrowed. As if she  _ almost _ understood it, but she was not quite there yet. So for a few more seconds, Stormblade thought again on how to rephrase it.

“Well, look here. You like to hunt, right?” She got off the headrest, and landed besides her on the mattress. “And you’ve liked to hunt for years, ever since you could leave the tower willingly.”

“Where are you going with this?” She folded her legs so that she sat cross-legged. 

“Well, you left the tower once they all decided to improve the security systems, right? Why?”

Nightfall scoffed. Was she really using this tone with her? What was she, in kindergarten?

But to be fair, she was  _ trying _ to explain something she didn’t quite understand to her. She should probably cut her some slack in turn. Even if Stormblade did sound like a nanny. Nightfall sighed. “I left because there really wasn’t anything left for me to do there. They didn’t need me to fight anymore, so I went somewhere else where I could.”

“Ah, but you didn’t need to leave, did you?” Said Stormblade, holding a finger up. “You could have stayed behind and learned something new. Something else which you could spend your time doing instead of hunting. That would have been less effort than leaving. But you left. And why?”

Nightfall cocked her head to one side, puzzlement making its way onto her features. “It’s not really that deep.” There was a pause. Underneath her mask, Nightfall licked her lips. “I just felt like I needed to fight, to always be protecting something, because that’s what I’m good at.” She shrugged. Admittedly, she did think about it quite a lot. Overthinking really, which was rather silly of her. There really should not be more to it, she didn’t need to wax poetic about fighting. How juvenile.

Stormblade placed a hand on her shoulder, a gesture which Nightfall appreciated. “And you don’t think you could live without doing it, right?”

“Well technically,” a pause, ‘technically I can live without getting into fights.”

“But you won’t feel like you’re truly alive and where you belong without it, right?” 

And so Nightfall’s gaze dropped to the floor, then to her lap, and then she once again looked her in the eyes. Her expression changed from one of confusion, to understanding. “We should probably check on her,” Nightfall commented, getting off the bed and heading towards the door.   


“Yeah, we really should.” Knowing Splat, it was likely that she had not stopped for a meal all day. She could usually step away from a project long enough to get a drink or to use the bathroom, but once the activity exceeded five minutes, she had a tendency to forgo it completely until her work was done.

Therefore, it would probably be wise of them to check on her. Just in case.

*****

Just like they thought, she was still outside. On the outside, physically, she looked exhausted. But she still carried on, mask strapped to her face and spraying paint onto the bus. “Come on Splat,” said Stormblade, walking up to her. “How long have you been at this?”

“I haven’t eaten in a while, but it’s fine! I’m really not hungry.”

“But you still need food.” Nightfall tried to reach for the can in her hand, but Splat dodged out of the way. “You can continue to do this tomorrow, after a meal and a good night’s rest. Come on.”

“Just one more…” Splat said. Although she placed the can down and removed her mask. “I’m almost almost done with this.”   


“Splat, you’ve barely even covered a quarter of it. Please take a break now.” Stormblade placed a hand on her shoulder, and pulled her away from the bus. Inch by inch, she stumbled away. Splat groaned out in irritation, but didn’t fight back.

Nightfall turned to look at the work which Splat had already done. So far, not much was finished. Only a few weird shapes, and she did not know what those were. Though dreadwalkers were blessed with night vision, the art she had completed was so abstract that she could not make heads or tails out of it. “Hey, Splat? What exactly are you painting on this anyways?”

Splat smiled. “Well, I’m glad  _ someone _ finally asked.” Nightfall wrapped an arm around her shoulder, so that Splat was sandwiched between her and Stormblade. “I decided that I wanted to make this piece a tribute to all of us founding members of the Superchargers. Everything I’m putting on the bus is meant to symbolise one of us.”

“Oh, so what did you choose to symbolise me?” Asked Stormblade, grey eyes wide and excited. 

“A plane, your symbol is gonna be on the second deck. I’m actually currently working on Nightfall’s bit.” She turned to face Nightfall with a grin.

“So what was that over there exactly?” She asked.

“Well, yours is supposed to be a squid. But all I managed to complete today was a couple of tentacles.” The three of them walked into the Academy, off to the cafeteria to get some food into Splat. “Trust me, the end result is going to look great.”

“Mm…” Nodded Nightfall, and the three entered the cafeteria in silence.

Splat ate a grass salad. Something light enough so as to not bother her while she sleeps, but filling enough that she wouldn't feel too hungry at night. Halfway through, Nightfall got bored of watching her friend eat, so she excused herself. Leaving Stormblade to watch over and chat with Splat.

She walked out of the Academy, and back to the field. Back to where the bus still stood, a sea of spray cans directly next to it. And there, she found the incomplete squid. Printed in black ink on the side of the bus. 

Looking at it, Nightfall had to admit. Splat did have talent. Though it was far from finished, she still thought that the piece had character to it. There was a vibrancy which she could see. It did make her pretty excited to see the final piece.

As it was, she fished her phone out of her pocket, turned on flash, and took a picture of it. And then on an impulse, she ended up changing her phone background to it. It became the first thing she saw whenever she opened up her lockscreen. Even after Splat came back to the bus. Even after she completed the finished project. 

Everyone loved the finished piece, for the record. Splat got near-universal approval for it.

About a month after she finished the project, Splat peered over her shoulder and saw that the two tentacles were still her lockscreen. “Why?” She asked, smiling at her all amused.

“I changed it that day because I thought it was nice. Nothing really else to it.” She shrugged. Splat giggled, apparently finding her answer amusing.

Splat joked about it for about a week, teased her really,in a light-hearted way. And after that week, when the amusement wore off, she talked about it to Nightfall one last time. “Really though, thanks for doing that. It really does mean a lot to me.”

Nightfall did not fully understand what she meant by that, considering it wasn’t even the completed piece which she used as a background. But a part of her felt like she didn’t have to.

**Author's Note:**

> When will I stop writing about boring topics? I dunno. I need to write more adventures, for sure.
> 
> The double-decker bus art project was inspired by something I saw once when going to different Junior Colleges for orientation. One school had this huge double-decker bus its art students covered in graffiti. I figured I ought to include it in a story someday, before I forget it.


End file.
